Saturday, September 20, 2008

RMNP Rodents




Today's post are some rodent images captured in Rocky Mountain National Park last week. During the day when the big mammals were bedded, I pursued small mammals. The park has a diversity of rodent species and I will post some additional photos later in the week. These were a few of my favorites shots. The top photo is a Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel. These squirrels are often mistaken for a chipmunk. An easy way to identify these squirrels from chipmunks is that the stripes end at the base of the neck, with chipmunks the stripes go through the cheeks. The middle photo is a Pika, who is actually not a rodent but a member of the rabbit family. They are usually found only in rocky areas. This guy was well above the tree line at around 10K feet. He is gathering a large long piece of thistle for drying at his den site. The bottom image is of a Yellow Bellied Marmot or Rockchuck. He is primarily a rock dweller like the Pika and is also gathering grasses for winter.

Tommorow's post will be a selection of moose photos.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

great pictures of the Elk. Thanks for the tips on the moose location. Found 10 in one location. It was great. I look forward to see more of your pictures.

Anonymous said...

Wow - you're rally posted a lot! And good stuff, too! Never hear of a Pika before.
Now - that's got to be my last comment for the day - I'm up almost 40 hrs non stop for an emergency website surgery ;) and am poofed.
Blue skies for you!
Cheers, Klaus